Nintendo Wii U Guide: Everything You Need To Know About Nintendo's New Console

We've put together this Nintendo Wii U Guide to get you up to speed on Nintendo's new console, which comes out sometime next year. This handy guide should have all of the most important info on the Wii U available to you at a glance.

Nintendo's sixth home console, the Wii U, will be available next year and promises to satisfy both hardcore and casual gamers alike. For those looking to get caught up to speed with Nintendo's new console, we've put together this handy guide so you can have all of the most important info on the Wii U available to you at a glance.

Nintendo Wii U

Release Date: 2012
MSRP: N/A

What Is It?

The Wii U will add a second screen to your living room, creating a multitude of new video game experiences. To the delight of Wii fans and core gamers alike, the Wii U will be able to combine motion-sensing game play and be able to support 1080p hi-def graphics.The console was first announced at E3 2011 during Nintendo's Press Conference, where they spent the demo showing off the amazing controller.

What Does It Do?

Along with its hi-def graphic capabilities, the Wii U will be completely backwards compatible with all Wii games, and can use all Wii accessories like the Balance Board. The system will also come with a revolutionary controller that is much more than Classic Controller button scheme of two analog sticks, a control pad, A/B/X/Y buttons, L/R buttons and ZL/ZR buttons. Along with these features, the controller also has a built in 6.2 inch HD touch screen and features an accelerometer and a gyroscope, a rumble feature, an inward-facing camera, a microphone, and speakers.

In single player games, the controller will be able to display information on the screen that doesn't appear on the TV, leaving more room on the TV for gameplay instead of the user inferface. The information and viewpoint of the game can also change in the controller based on the orientation of its gyroscope.

In multiplayer games, the controller will offer a nice variety of competitive and cooperative experiences, as the player using the controller can have a different experience than the player looking at the television screen. 

The controller will "enable a breadth of game-play experiences while appealing to both casual and dedicated video game players," said Nintendo. The system will come with one controller, but the cosole can be partnered with up to four additional Wii remote controllers.

As on now, only one controller will be supported per each Wii U system. Nintendo would rather you bring your 3DS to play with a friend rather than a second Wii U controller. Also, the Wii U will not support DVD or Blu-Ray Playing Capability as Nintendo feels like your living room should already be equipped with devices that are capable of playing movies.

What Are The Specs?

• Size: Approximately 1.8 inches tall, 6.8 inches wide and 10.5 inches long.
• Media: A single self-loading media bay will play 12-centimeter proprietary high-density optical discs for the new console, as well as 12-centimeter Wii optical discs.
• Video Output: Supports 1080p, 1080i, 720p, 480p and 480i. Compatible cables include HDMI, component, S-video and composite
• Audio Output: Uses AV Multi Out connector. Six-channel PCM linear output through HDMI.
• Storage: The console will have internal flash memory, as well as the option to expand its memory using either an SD memory card or an external USB hard disk drive.
• CPU: IBM Power-based multi-core microprocessor.
• GPU: AMD Radeon-based High Definition GPU.
• Other: Four USB 2.0 connector slots are included. The new console is backward compatible with Wii games and Wii accessories.

What Kinds Of Games Have Been Announced For The Wii U?

There's an impressive number of games that have been announced for the Wii U. At the E3 2011 Nintendo Press Conference, Nintendo showed off a number of tech demos on the system, but it is important to note that these were not proper games. Titles included: Chase Mii, Battle Mii, New Super Mario Bros. Mii, Measure Up, Shield Pose, and the Zelda-rific HD Experience demo. Of course, we fully expect there to be a Super Mario Bros, a Zelda, and a Super Bash Bros. for this system.

Nintendo also announced a slew of HD titles during their launch presentation which will be coming out for the Wii U including: Darksiders 2, Dirt, Ninja Gaiden 3, Metro: Last Light, Aliens: Colonial Marines, Ghost Recon Online, Tekken, and more. Check out this video to see the games in action on the Wii U.

If you want to know even more about how the Wii U plays, you should definitely check out our Wii U hands on impressions from E3 2011. Here's an excerpt by Jake Gaskill:

"By far the most impressive Wii U "experience," at least from a purely graphical perspective, was the Zelda HD demo. The interactive cinematic featured Link facing off a gigantic mechanized spider in an epic showdown that showcased some spectacular lighting and particle effects as well as richly detailed textures, you know, the kind you would expect to see from 1080p HD title. Of course, this Zelda demo isn’t part of any official game (it’s just an “experience,” remember?), but it sure as hell should be. It’s exactly the style and feel I’ve wanted from a Zelda game since the credits rolled on The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and it would be a shock to no one if this was exactly what Nintendo's first Wii U Zelda game ends up using as a jumping off point. But I digress."

And there you have it! As we get more info on the Wii U we'll be sure to update you. In the meantime, let us know your feelings on the new Wii U console. Do you think that it's going to revolutionize gaming in the same way that the Wii did, or are you not so excited this time around?